Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey

In the words of the immortal John Sebastian, “Welcome back, welcome back, wel-come back…”

And while Mr. Sebastian was crooning about Mr. Kotter and not hockey cards, one need only be imaginative for just a moment to draw the parallel. For the sake of time and space, I won’t go into my assessment, but rather will let you draw your own conclusions about my generous use of metaphors today. My job is to tell you about a tremendous high-end hockey product that has made its way into the hobby recently.

Artifacts hockey is the first high-end hockey product to be released under Upper Deck’s auspices in quite some time, thanks to the lockout/strike that loomed over the NHL for almost two years. And what a way to re-enter the market!

Now as the only licensed NHL trading card manufacturer, Upper Deck had to do something grand. Like, how about including redemptions for a Sidney Crosby rookie card serial-numbered to 799?

Or, what about including at least one certified autograph and three game-used memorabilia pieces in every box on average?

Well, Upper Deck Artifacts has all those elements and a lot more.

If you’re into serial-numbered parallels and the like, Artifacts should be your product of choice.

If you’re into getting a lot of card value for your buck – look no further than Artifacts.

If you’re a hockey fan that is looking to get into collecting hockey cards – give Artifacts a try.

Upper Deck Artifacts retail at $9.99 per pack and has 12-packs per hobby box. Not a bad deal considering almost every pack should either yield an autograph, game-jersey, rookie card redemption or serial-numbered parallel.

Our box was pretty lucrative. We pulled a Jean Beliveau Frozen Artifacts game-used patch, a Martin Brodeur autograph, a Dominik Hasek dual game-used jersey, and two rookie redemptions – both Wild Cards.

Overall, the base card design is top-notch and the collation was excellent as our box didn’t yield one duplicate. We even liked the artwork on the box and the individual wrappers.

Here’s what you might find in a box of 2005 Upper Deck Artifacts hockey:
Base Set
100 cards
Rookie Card Redemptions(to be #’d to 799)

Inserts
Legends - #'d to 899
All-Stars - #'d to 899
Auto-Facts - #'d to 100
Auto-Facts Silver - #'d to 50
Auto-Facts Pewter - #'d to 10
Auto-Facts Blue - #'d to 1
Frozen Artifacts - #'d to 275
Treasured Swatches - #'d to 275 (also in dual)
Treasured Swatches Silver - #'d to 50
Treasured Swatches Pewter - #'d to 10
Treasured Swatches Blue - #'d to 1
Frozen Artifacts Silver - #'d to 50 (also is dual)
Frozen Artifacts Pewter - #'d to 10
Frozen Artifacts Gold - #'d to 1
Enshrined Frozen Artifacts - #'d to 1
Enshrined Treasured Swatches - #'d to 1
Enshrined Treasured Patches - #'d down to 1, also in dual
Enshrined Treasured Swatches Dual Goalie Gear Patches - #'d to 1

Parallels
Regular Player Blue - #'d to 100
Regular Player Red - #'d to 75
Regular Player Green - #'d to 25
Regular Player Gold Spectrum - #'d to 1
Regular Player Gold Autograph - #'d to 1
Legends/All-Stars Blue - #'d to 100
Legends/All-Stars Red - #'d to 75
Legends/All-Stars Green - #'d to 25
Legends/All-Stars Gold Spectrum - #'d to 1
Legends/All-Stars Gold Autograph - #'d to 1